Say Goodbye
by AnimeniacAnonymous
Summary: He had finally done it. She was in his arms once more.


Okay guys! Number 7 for you. Hope you enjoy it. It's quite bittersweet. Enjoy! ~AnimeniacAnonymous

Say Goodbye

After months of writing, dozens of notebooks, buckets of ink, and what felt like hundreds of quills; he had finally done it. He had finally been able to write her back into his arms.

They spent the first few hours just holding each other, murmuring words and assurances of love in the still air of the night. Afterwards they moved apart, connected by their hands and had moved their reunion into the small hut by the lake that he had built for himself while he worked on her story. They sat at the table with a simple meal; neither one of them willing to spend time making something fancier after so long apart. They never let their bodies completely separate even for a moment, too focused on finally being together again to let such a thing as personal space interrupt them now. The rest of the evening was spent sitting on the small dock outside, listening to the crickets playing their songs and watching the stars roll by.

They were mostly silent, save for when she would point out a shooting star as it flew overhead, reminding him to make a wish. Otherwise the silence covered them like a blanket, sequestering them from all the cares and troubles of the outside world. It felt as though nothing could pierce through the security of that moment. It was only as the sky started lightening and the birds started chirping that she sought to end the silence.

He saw her turn to him with love in her big blue eyes. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, as though trying to figure out what to say, before a small smile appeared and she took a deep breath. He pressed his lips securely against hers, not letting a single word slip out. He didn't want to hear those words tonight. He knew. He knew that this time was coming for the two of them, but he didn't want this moment of peace to end just yet. When he pulled back, he smirked to see her bemused face, causing her to blush and nudge him with her shoulder playfully. It seemed she got the message. So they sat and watched as the sky lightened from the darker blue of night to the pinks and oranges of the dawn: their growing shadows the only measure of time.

Finally, when the sun broke the horizon, the magic ended, and he was sitting next to a short, yellow body covered in feathers once more. Taking her in his lap, he said nothing but petted her feathers absentmindedly. He couldn't acknowledge the tears in her eyes as he did so. If he did, the burning of his own would overflow and he would not be able to stop. They had agreed at the beginning; once it had become clear that, no matter what he wrote, he could not turn things back to the way they were. They had agreed that this one night was going to be enough, would have to be enough. Just enough time to truly say goodbye.

But, in the end, neither of them had been able to actually say the words. She had been close (always having been the braver of the two of them, he mused to himself), but he had stopped her, unable to bear the finality of it. But, in a way, their night together was a goodbye in and of itself: one that suited them perfectly. There was no fanfare, no pomp or circumstance, no dramatic proclamations of love and devotion. Just two people, spending time with the one they loved in the way they both loved best.

And that, he thought to himself with a wobbly grin, was enough to get him through. He wouldn't leave her, no matter what. This last night had been just one magical moment to get them started on a life where they were together in love though not in body. It was a beginning, not an end: he told himself resolutely, determined to take a page from her book and look for the silver lining of this cloud. He huffed as she burrowed into his chest and he looked down with a startled laugh. It seemed as though she could hear his thoughts, because she was looking up at him determinedly and with so much love it almost hurt. A firm 'Quack' was the only confirmation he needed. They could do this. They could do it, as long as they were together.

There was no need for goodbyes.


End file.
